Shaken Baby Syndrome, or Shaken Infant Syndrome, occurs when caregivers shake an infant forcefully. Shaken Baby Syndrome can cause a wide range of serious health problems, including broken bones, blindness, spinal injury, brain damage, and death. When the infant is shaken, it can cause internal bleeding inside the brain that can go undetected. It is therefore important to take an infant who has been shaken to a hospital or doctor in order to prevent severe permanent injury.
The problem of Shaken Baby Syndrome is beginning to draw more attention. Doctors and other healthcare professionals are beginning to study more thoroughly the causes and effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome. In September of 2001, an international conference was held in Sydney, Australia to help healthcare professionals to disseminate and to learn information about Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Shaken Baby Syndrome often occurs when caregivers are left alone with an infant who is engaging in some behavior that is frustrating to the caregiver. For example, despite the caregiver's best efforts to determine what is wrong, the infant will not stop crying. In such situations, caregivers may shake the infant in a misguided attempt to stop the frustrating behavior.
Caregivers can learn to cope with the stress of a crying infant, though. It is important to educate them about the danger of Shaken Baby Syndrome so that they may take appropriate measures to prevent or deal with frustration and stress. By preventing or dealing effectively with frustration and stress, the caregiver can prevent Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Surprisingly mild shaking can cause Shaken Baby Syndrome. The membrane that secures the brain to the skull does not generally develop until 18 months of age, and therefore infants younger than this are particularly vulnerable to Shaken Baby Syndrome. It is also important to educate caregivers of this fact, both in order to help prevent them from shaking an infant even mildly, and in order to encourage them to seek medical care immediately for the infant in the event of such a shaking, so that any injury is not aggravated by going untreated.